| 1973 22 May |
The passing of Alfred "Jim" Loft (b. 13 July 1908 in Hiawatha, Ontario) on Tyendinaga First Nation [BW16p514-516]
Alfred James Loft (1908-1973) was the
first Canadian Bahá'í of the Mohawk
Nation. His earliest childhood
recollection was of sitting on a fence
near his home (in Oshawa, Ontario)
watching a train crossing the landscape.
A figure clothed in flowing white robes
was on the train, smiling and waving at
him. In confusion and delight Jim toppled
backwards.
When he found the Bahá'í Faith in 1948,
he recognized the figure on the train as
'Abdu'l-Bahá, Who had left Montreal on 9 September 1912 on a train bound for
Toronto where He changed trains for Buffalo, New York. In 1949, in obedience
to the Guardian's wishes, Jim returned with his family to the Mohawks of the
Bay of Quinte (Tyendinaga) to establish the Faith
among his people, remaining there until his death.
[Witness of Pebbles, by Roger White, p24] |
In Memoriam; Jim Loft; Roger White; Tyendinaga First Nation, ON; Hiawatha, ON |
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| 1973 |
Number of Local Spiritual Assemblies in Canada: 200
Incorporated Local Spiritual Assemblies: 65
Localities where Bahá'í reside: 950
Members: 7,500
[from a pamphlet, The Bahá'í Faith and its World Community published by the NSA of Canada] |
Statistics; Canada |
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| 1973 09 Feb |
Jalál performed with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra (73 musicians) at the Centennial Auditorium. The band had been commissioned in late 1972 to write an orchestrated work to perform with the symphony orchestra conducted by Dwaine Nelson. Their work was in two parts; the first was called 'Prologue', and the second 'Love is the Mystery of Divine Revelation'.
Prior to the performance they had two rehearsals with the Symphony. They were greeted by a packed house of more than 2,000 persons. The group opened with a pop song from the Turtles called Elenore, backed by the symphony string section. Also included in the performance were a number of other original tunes which Jalál played without orchestra. In additon, Larry Brown performed a 15 minute solo classical guitar piece; Chaconne by J.S. Bach, transcribed by Segovia for classical guitar. It was the first time he had played classical guitar in public.
After the intermission Jalál and the orchestra came back together to perform Prologue, and Love is the Mystery of Divine Revelation. At the conclusion of the formal concert in the auditorium, the audience was invited to the cabaret room on the lower level to "rock out" with Jalál and a number of musician-friends. [Facebook post THE SPARK: 1967 - 1973 9 FEBRUARY 2020]
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Jalal (musical group); Dwaine Nelson; Saskatoon, SK |
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Canada